CCL SETTING NEW STANDARDS FOR SUSTAINABLE BOTTLE-TO-BOTTLE RECYCLING!

The unique new self-adhesive label material construction (LD-PSL) makes an optimal recycling process possible.

CCL Label Meerane GmbH in Germany, the global competence centre for the beverage industry, has developed a special WashOff pressure sensitive label. This forward-looking innovation opens up a range of new possibilities and supports a sustainable recycling process. The newly developed label construction is per­fectly suited for easier separation of the label from the beverage container during the washing process, for example whilst bottle-to-bottle recycling (B2B).

The removal performance of these labels is based upon the same principle as the WashOff labels available from CCL. Following the conventional method of reducing the returned PET containers into flakes, the hot water in the water bath causes the labels to shrink, which then separate from the PET flakes without leaving any residu­al ink or adhesive whatsoever. Whilst the PET flakes sink to the bottom, what is left of the labels swims to the surface, enabling easy separation.

A two-layer construction is used for these labels which ensures that all inks are safely enclosed between the two plastic film layers. The result is that no contamina­tion or discoloration of the water bath or the bottles / flakes is guaranteed.

The use of CCL’s newly developed LD-PSL labels con­tributes significantly to the sustainable usage of raw ma­terials, as well as to optimizing the bottle-to-bottle
recy­cling process. The clean separation of PET flakes and the label material is guaranteed and results in the seamless refeeding and therefore reuse of valuable PET raw mate­rials in the recycling chain. This leads to cost savings as well as the very positive effect of improving environmental performance.

The material construction has been authorised and certified by an independent laboratory which works for the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recycling (APR).

The innovative LD-PSL labels can be applied by standard pressure sensitive labellers as commonly used in the industry today. There are no disadvantages when compared to standard self-adhesive labels.

Production & cost advantages

Pressure Sensitive Labels from CCL provide distinct design and marketing advantages, whilst at the same time improving efficiencies during production, with benefits such as:

• No lost set-up or shutdown time due to the ready-to use self-adhesive coating on the pressure sensitive labels.
• Simple changes of the label reels and simple as well as precise label application is possible.
• A wide range of label sizes and forms can be applied without any machine adjustments being necessary
  > vast reduction of set-up times!
• Less time required for switching to other brands or variants.
• Minimal machine maintenance required.
• High efficiencies and production stability lead to greater output levels.

Source: http://www.cclbeverage.com